Preventing Sexually Transmitted Diseases

By Kangpe Healthcare Services

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Sexually transmitted diseases are infections that can be transferred during sexual contact.
This is an infection that is spread during sexual activity, including oral sex, sexual intercourse, anal sex, and use of body parts, fingers or sex toys that have made physical contact with another person’s body fluids or genitals.

While thousands of new STDs are diagnosed every year in Nigeria, STDs are highly preventable.

Most sexually transmitted infections can be prevented if people become informed and make the decision of avoiding risky sexual behavior.

While the most guaranteed method of preventing Sexually transmitted diseases is abstinence, most people don’t find this to be a practical solution.

Prevent sexually transmitted diseases by

a. Having a proactive measure: For STD prevention to be effective, it needs to be long before sexual activity occurs.
It includes making a decision to

• Discuss your sexual history with a potential partner
• Avoid sex when judgment is impaired by drug or alcohol use
• Limit your number of sexual partners
• Get vaccinated against hepatitis B and the human papilloma Virus HPV
• Determine the health status of you and your potential partner by taking STD tests

b. Always practice safe: Make use of polyurethane or latex barrier as protection for all forms of sex. It includes

• Making use of dental dams or condoms for oral sex
• Making use of a male or female condom for intercourse
• Washing off after sex can help reduce the risk of infection, it can help remove infectious agents on the skin.

c. Ensure condoms are used correctly: Condoms and all barrier protection methods are more effective when you use them correctly. Always

• Ensure the condom pack has an air bubble, this show it hasn’t been punctured
• Watch out for expired condoms
• Make use of condom safe lubricants; some lubricants cause condoms to break
• Leave some space at the tip of the condom
• Ensure condoms are properly disposed of and never reused

While barrier methods like condoms are very good at preventing STDs by blocking the exchange of bodily fluids.
They don't entirely prevent transmission because some STDs can be transmitted by skin contact or touch.
Herpes, human papilloma Virus (HPV) and syphilis can be spread skin-to-skin.

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For more advice and help, feel free to consult a doctor online